John koppe



UNITED STATES PATENT GFEICE.

JOHN KOIPE, OF NHV.' YORK, N. Y.

GLASS OR METAL HARMONICON.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,230, dated October 2, 1880.

-a vertical longitudinal section of my new steel pianoforte instrument. Fig. 3, represents the action of the same in a longitudi nal View.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts in all these figures.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction of a pianoforte instrument in which all the tunes are produced by a metal hammer striking on steel plates either directly or indirectly, as hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I take pieces of steel A A, A, either in the shape as represented in the drawings or in some other suitable shape, and impart to them the capacity of producing various tunes by varying either the length or the thickness or the width, or several of these dimensions of the steel pieces or steel plates. If the hardness of the steel be the same or nearly the samevin all the pieces or plates I obtain the trilling of the same by increasing or decreasing the volume of the pieces or plates. In the same degree or nearly in the same degree as the volume is increased the tunes will be lower and, on the contrary, in the proportion as the volume of the steel is decreased, the tunes will become higher. If steel plates of unequal hardness are used, soft steel will be used for obtaining low tunes, and hard steel for high tunes. In either case the volume or the hardness may be so modied as to produce not only all the tunes now obtained by the usual instruments but also several octavos lower than can possibly be attained in stringed instruments of any description.

I prefer the use of steel plates of equal hardness and of equal width to obtain the various tunes by modifying their length and thickness or either of these dimensions for the purpose of making my steel pianoforte instruments.

The tune is produced by hanging the plates of steel on or near the two ends of their length and by striking them in or near the center of their length with a metallic hammer secured to a metallic hammer butt. I prefer the use of silk threads for the purpose of hanging the plates, and I have found that brass hammers produce the best sounding tunes. Having a row of steel plates tuned in the manner described, and brass hammers to strike the same, I obtain strong sounds (forte) in the manner usually employed in pianoforte instruments; but to obtain weak or soft tunes (piano) I interpose a band flatwise under the steel plates on the point where the hammer is to strike, in suoli a manner that the hammer will strike the steel indirectly through the band.

In order to confine the steel plates longitudinally in their respective position, I place the whole row of plates between two wooden bands in a vertical position, by which a vertical vibration of the plates will bc allowed, without displacing them longitudinally.

Having thus described the principles of my invention, I will now explain the construction of my instruinennt. In the annexed drawings A A A represent the steel plates, B and C represent two metallic rods containing the pins e, c, e, e, on which the steel plates are hung by means of the silk threads n, a. Thus there will be between each two plates, portions a, n', of the thread a which extend from the top of thc pins c, to the bottom edge of the plate, in a somewhat inclined line, and a horizontal portion 12.2, of the thread which extends across the bottom surface of the plate.

D D represent the band which is interposed between the hammers and the plates, when soft sounds are required. The interposing of this band is effected by means of the lever (i placed in the frame of the instrument which may be connected to a pedal lever to be moved by the foot of the player, in the manner usually employed in pianoforte instruments.

K, K, K are the hammers of brass or similar metal, and they are so placed in the action as to strike the steel plates about in the middle of their length.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Hanging the plates A, of a pianoforte, upon two threads n, n, passing over tWo rows of pins e, in such manner that each end of each plate A, shall be supported between two inclined portions n, n, of thread n, for the purposes described.

JOHN KOPPE. `Witnesses Cris. WEHLE TUL. VVEHLE. 

